Hadebrand the Bard
Hadebrand the Bard, '''also know as '''Dovahkiin, Hadebrand Thorensson, 'Nerevarine, Hero of Kvatch, Sheogorath, '''and '''The Royalty (CHIM), '''is a hero who was incarnated in times of crisis to serve as a beacon in the midst of terror. Many people have claimed to be him throughout the ages, but few claims are true. Early Life Early in his life as his Dovahkiin incarnation, he was raised by his prostitute mother in Rorikstead. His father, Thoren Eiksson, was a raider who never glanced at Hadebrand with a bit of care. Thoren was actually a decendent of Tiber Septim through the line of Barenziah, whose baby was not aborted but was instead given new parents, as Tiber Septim had pity on the child. Hadebrand found his mother, the former prostitute, in the barn beat to death. This is said to have haunted Hadebrand forever. He was sent to Solitude to live with his great-uncle, who was a poet. For 10 years, Hadebrand studied at the college until he became old enough to own land. Instead of settling down, he decided to sell his land and travel. At age 22, his great-uncle became sick with rock-joint and was soon paralyzed. Hadebrand traveled to Solitude to see his great-uncle on his final die. His great-uncle, seeing him, looked over at a display case at his sword. "Kill me." He told Hadebrand. Hadebrand understood this was the only way his great-uncle would get to Sovngarde, he didn't, therefore, deny his great-uncle his rights to the Hall of Valor. His great-uncle stood up, though his limbs were almost completely stiff. As he was ready to die, Hadebrand pierced his heart and he died, knowing Sovngarde was worth the pain. Hadebrand, struck with grief, traveled to Darkwater Crossing to join the bandits. When his bandit group was betrayed by one of Hadebrand's friends, Jhudes, Hadebrand fled from the bounty hunters and would later escape to an Orcish stronghold only to be called unworthy of entrance. In response, Hadebrand challenged the orc chieftain to hand-to-hand combat. Hadebrand was almost defeated by the orc chief until he felt a surge of anger course through his veins and ruthlessly defeat the chieftain. This was known to the orcs as "berserker's rage" and earned Hadebrand the title of blood-kin. Hadebrand would train with the orcs for 3 more years until a mysterious young courier find him in the orcish tribe, somehow getting past the orcs and sneaking into Hadebrand's house. He casually said, "I have a letter for you, ''your hands only, ''the man didn't say who he was, only that he knew you." Hadebrand, though suspicious, took the letter and read the poorly written note: ''My son, I herd of yor bandit groop and yor rade on impereel vilijis. I want to meat yoo at dark water crosing. I'm awair yoo are blod ken to the orcs and if yoo leve that behinde and join me, yoo wil earn great richis. Agin, dark water crosing. I wil be ther intil secind sede. Yor father, Thoren. Hadebrand was aware his father did not know Hadebrand knew his dark history. He would go to Darkwater Crossing to have vengeance on his father. He left the orcish tribe the next day, saying he would soon come back. That is when he saw a group of Stormcloaks, one of them being the jarl Ulfric Stormcloak himself, running from Imperials. Hadebrand, being wanted for murder, rape, banditry, and desecration of the the Temple of the Divines, ran. He was hit in the back of the head with an arrow, obviously an Imperial thought he was a Stormcloak, as he was acting guilty. The arrow, being only made to hunt small game, did not pierce his skin, but instead knocked him unconscious. Dragon Crisis Once Hadebrand was captured, he was assumed to be a Stormcloak and sent to Helgen along with a rebel named Ralof, a thief named Lokir, and Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak. As soon as the headsman raised his axe above his head to behead Hadebrand, Alduin attacked Helgen, laying ruin to the place in search of "Dovahkiin". Hadebrand fled with Ralof to Riverwood and was told by a miller named Gerdur to warn Jarl Balgruuf of Whiterun that a dragon was on the loose. Hadebrand was sent by the court wizard to retrieve an ancient map of dragon burials by the court wizard, Farengar. Once Hadebrand returned, a dragon attacked the western watch tower and Hadebrand was sent with the others to kill it. Once he defeated it by thrusting his sword through its skull, he absorbed its soul and learned FUS. With this, he was summoned by the Greybeards and named thane of Whiterun. He finished all the trials of the Greybeards and that's when he met Delphine. Hadebrand was able to prove he was Dovahkiin by slaying a dragon and obtaining its soul. She, amazed, sent him to basically do her dirty work. He infiltrated the Thalmor Embassy and found an old loremaster named Esbern. Together, they found Sky Haven temple. Alduin's wall told of a shout that could drop a dragon from the sky. Hadebrand asked the Greybeards for this shout only to be reprimanded and sent away. Before he could leave, Wulfgar reminded Arngeir of his duties to help Hadebrand and Arngeir took back what he said. The Greybeards taught Hadebrand the Clear Skies shout so Hadebrand could climb up the Throat of the World. Hadebrand went up to meet the leader of the Greybeards: the dragon Paarthurnax. Paarthurnax would later leave Skyrim one day. He told Hadebrand about a shout that could cause a dragon to fall from the sky and experience mortality. Laying on the pinnacle of the mountain, Hadebrand found an arming sword (also known as a knightly sword). The sword, as he would soon discover, was enchanted so that it multiplies the strength of a swing by five. The sword would later strike fear into the hearts of hundreds. In order to get to Sovngarde, Hadebrand must find the portal at Skuldafn. To do so, he was able to get both sides of the civil war to negotiate a temporary peace so he could trap Odahviing at Dragonsreach. After capturing Odahviing, Hadebrand made a deal with him and was flown to Skuldafn and, subsequently Sovngarde. He defeated Tsun, being allowed to cross the whalebone bridge. He joined the three ancient Nord heroes and defeated Alduin, whose soul shattered into hundreds of pieces (they would serve as another of Hadebrand's weaker enemies). Tsun, seeing Hadebrand's victory, warped him back to The Throat of the World, Nirn. Dragons surrounded Hadebrand and glorified him. Interactions With Miraak Hadebrand is attacked by cultists worshiping someone named Miraak, who is also referred to as First Dragonborn. He defeats the cultists and, upon investigating them, discovers a set of orders revealing their origins: the island of Solstheim. Hadebrand then journeys to Solstheim to confront Miraak and his followers. After arriving on the island, Hadebrand begins interrogating the citizens of Solstheim about Miraak. It immediately becomes apparent that a majority of Solstheim's population has been unconsciously enslaved by Miraak and forced to work on several runic monoliths called "All-Maker Stones", scattered across the island. Among the unaffected observers is a wizard, Neloth (who Hadebrand met has the Nerevarine incarnation), who directs Hadebrand to the Temple of Miraak. He reaches the Temple and encounters a Skaal woman named Frea, who is immune to Miraak's control, attempting in vain to break his spell over her people, the Skaal. She accompanies Hadebrand into the Temple. Inside, Hadebrand discovers a "Black Book", and after reading it, is unwittingly transported into a realm of Oblivion called Apocrypha, where he witnesses Miraak planning his invasion of Tamriel. Miraak dismisses the player as inferior and returns them to Solstheim. Upon their return, Hadebrand visits the Skaal Village and, advised by the Skaal shaman Storn, performs a special dragon shout on an All-Maker Stone, purifying the monolith and freeing the Skaal and the other denizens of the island from Miraak's control. Storn then sends Hadebrand to Neloth, who reveals that the Black Books are relics belonging to the Daedric prince Hermaeus Mora, also known as the "keeper of forbidden knowledge", and the source of Miraak's power. Neloth accompanies Hadebrand to the Dwemer ruin of Nchardak to retrieve another Black Book sealed inside a complex container. They release the mechanism and learn of a shout called "Bend Will", which is believed to be instrumental in defeating Miraak. Through the Black Books, Hadebrand journeys into Apocrypha and personally encounters Hermaeus Mora. Mora explains that if Hadebrand wishes to defeat Miraak, he must gain the same knowledge that Miraak possesses. He agrees to impart such knowledge in exchange for the secrets of the Skaal, one of the few remaining pieces of knowledge kept from the Daedric prince. Hadebrand returns to the Skaal Village and persuades Storn to surrender the tribe's secrets. Despite Frea's best efforts to stop him, Storn communicates directly with Mora, who then proceeds to sap him of his knowledge, killing him in the process. Hadebrand then learns the final word of "Bend Will", enabling him to defeat Miraak. Hadebrand returns to Apocrypha and uses "Bend Will" to subdue Miraak's dragon, Sarohtaar, allowing him to mount the dragon in flight. Sarohtaar flies Hadebrand to Miraak's tower, the Summit of Apocrypha. There, Hadebrand and Miraak battle until Hadebrand uses Bend Will shout on him. It takes three shouts to bind Miraak, but his knees give way under him and he bows to Hadebrand. Hadebrand reveals to Miraak that he too wants to go against Herma-Mora. Herma-Mora, knowing what Hadebrand just said, sent his seekers and lurkers after the dragonborns, but they read the Black Book and are able to escape. Thus the first and last dragonborn were allied. Lineage and Family Hadebrand is a descendant of Tiber Septim via Septim's affair with Barenziah. Barenziah's child, though a dunmer, married a Nord woman and thus a Nord child. The blood line continued into the Fourth Era and to, of course, Hadebrand Thorensson. Hadebrand married Tolva Sabina, a former sailor whose ship was pillaged by pirates. The pirates made a deal that they would spare the survivors but they would have to jump off the boat and swim through the frigid water. Half died from hypothermia, Hadebrand and his friends found the surviving four. They had a son, Ylgar. He would become heir to Aurea once Hadebrand disappeared. The Kingdom of Aurea Once Hadebrand had defeated Alduin and escaped from the hands of Herma-Mora, he had already gained the loyalty of Whiterun. Hadebrand told Balgruuf of his plans for an independent kingdom. Balgruuf supported this idea as he never wanted to join a side in the civil war. Hadebrand told Balgruuf it would be wise to join the Stormcloaks. Balgruuf agreed to his judgement. After helping the Stormcloaks as an independent ally, Hadebrand's greed surfaced once more. Whiterun was still Jarl Balgruuf's, not his. Hadebrand had a simple (yet evil) idea. He preformed the Black Sacrament in his manor a few miles away from the city. An unknown assassin arrived and preformed the assassination. Balgruuf was found dead along with all of his heirs. The day was 4E 205, the 8th of Frostfall. Before word got out, the assassin had returned to receive payment, only to be strangled to death by Hadebrand. Hadebrand notified the guards the assassin had been found trying to kill him. The guards brought him to see the jarl and ask for protection. When Hadebrand was asked by Dragonsreach guards why he had arrived, and he told them, they notified him that the jarl had also been attacked and was killed. Hadebrand was to become the new jarl. At the end of the war, Skyrim had been split. Ulfric took the provinces of Eastmarch (given), Haafingar, Hjaalmarch, The Pale, Winterhold. Hadebrand took Whiterun, Falkreath, The Rift, The Reach. Hadebrand would not be the one to take High Rock or Hammerfell, that would be his son: Ylgar Hadebrandsson. Disappearance Not much is known about Hadebrand's disappearance. There is many theories but it is believed by some that he achieved CHIM through unknown means. His kingship was passed to his son. Trivia * Hadebrand restored the worship of the Nordic Pantheon in place of the Imperial one. * 36 assassin attempts were made on Hadebrand's life, all of them unsuccessful * During Ylga Dragon-Tongue's reign, approximately 1500 legionnaires were found dead marching to battle against the Aureans. They all had an H carved on their arm. This may prove Hadebrand has CHIM and still interacts with the world. * Oddly enough, his wife, Tolva, disappeared only a few days after he did. * Hadebrand is fluent in both Nordic and Cyrodiilic. * Rumors spread that Hadebrand has killed hundreds of men... Hadebrand agrees. Category:Characters Category:Males Category:Nords Category:Dragonborns Category:Kings